If you can’t tell, I’m on a bit of a horror kick! If I had my way, I’d read nothing but horror all the way up to the spooky season!
I saw this book on www.bookoutlet.com during one of my (many) unhinged book buying splurges. To be honest, I didn’t look much further past the cover and title (and genre). I had a hankering for something darker, as, at the time, I was armpit deep in saccharine sweet romances and desperately needed a palate cleanser (yes, I am a romance author and yes, I read more than romance 😂).
This little beauty sat on my shelf for months before my TBR jar was kind enough to me to let me dive into it. And when I finally did, I devoured the entire book in one sitting. Not that it was particularly difficult, mind you — standing at a modest 128 pages, this is a novella, after all.
As soon as I cracked open the book, I was immediately drawn in. Nothing But Blackened Teeth follows the classic horror formula of an unsuspecting group of thrill-seeking friends spending the night in a haunted location. The twist is that this is a group of wedding-goers, preparing to watch their horror-loving bride exchange her nuptials with her star-crossed groom-to-be. The venue? A Heian-era mansion. Their destination wedding brings them all the way to Japan, where they seek to say “I do” amidst the bones of the sacrificed women who were buried in the walls to keep a long-dead disgruntled bride company.
The writing was absolutely delicious. Trust me, I cringe at the descriptor myself, but there’s no other way to describe it. I adored Khaw’s style, and simply couldn’t bring myself to put the book down. Despite having a perfectly good physical copy, I borrowed it on Libby so that I could read it on my cell phone as I ate dinner.
That all being said, I can imagine that this book may not be for everyone. While beautifully executed, some of the writing was a bit “jerky.” By that, I mean, the pacing shifted quickly, which can easily result in readers going back and re-reading certain sections to make sure they didn’t miss something (“what happened? That was so fast!”) The horror wasn’t a slow-build, nor was it particularly atmospheric. It was a bit “on the nose” in the way that most horror can be, though, I do want to tip my hat toward the eerie descriptions and bone-chilling scene-setting.
While I loved this story (and wouldn’t change the ending), I do wish that there was a bit more to round it off. All in all, it was quite quick, like a band-aid ripped off. It was almost jarring, leaving the reader with very little closure, or time to experience any emotional reaction to the events that happened within the mansion.
For me, personally, this was a 4.5 star read, but, in the name of remaining impartial, I’ll give it a solid 3.5 stars.
Have you read Nothing But Blackened Teeth? What did you think of it? And if you haven’t, do you like horror as a genre?
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Ivy Whitaker 